Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Walking With God | Manesh P


This message was preached bManesh Peters at Word of Grace Church on January  26th, 2020 To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the worship please click here




Are you walking with God?

In Gen 5:24 we see that Enoch walked with God and he was no more.
Enoch had his own worries. Every day has its own worries. But he chose to put his worries at the feet of Jesus and he walked with God.
Walking with God means continuous fellowship with God. Two people cannot walk together  unless they agree.

Phil 3:8-10 - “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
3 key aspects of walking with God:
  1. Gaining Christ -
    1. Paul lost certain things to gain Christ. A gain in Greek means a profit in exchange of something ordinary for something better. To gain Christ is to be united with him.

    2. What did Paul lose? Phil 3:4-6 though I myself have a reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
    3.  This is how they thought you can know God.
    4. But when Paul knew Christ he lost his confidence in the flesh because he received a righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. He embraced the free gift of righteousness.
    5. The day we think we deserve something, we enter self-righteousness. Isaiah 64:6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”
    6. Our bank account of righteousness is not nil. It has the full righteousness of Jesus credited to our account

2. Knowing Christ
    1. Knowledge in Greek means knowledge through experience. When we experience His peace, love and everlasting life we know him. Knowing God is not a future event when we come face to face with God.
    2. Phil 1:23 - departing from earth is not going to heaven, it means to be in the manifest presence of God and that is why it’s the best place.
    3. A relationship is not built on one way communication. John 10:27 says my sheep hear my voice. If you are his sheep, you can hear his voice.
3.Participate in His suffering
    1. It has been granted to us to suffer for him. It’s a favor from God that we get to suffer for him. We participate in this suffering as a gift from God.
    2. 2 Tim 3:12 - “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” we don’t go looking for persecution on the streets. But there is a wilful submission to the suffering that comes from surrendering to Jesus.
    3. Why would you participate in His sufferings? We are shaped as we do this. But the prime reason we take part in His suffering is our love and passion for Christ. Let the extreme love and passion from Christ from gaining and knowing Christ drive you to participate in His suffering.



Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Staying Committed To Your Calling



This message was preached by  Navaz D at Word of Grace Church on January 19th, 2020 To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the worship please click here





INTRODUCTION
We have entered a new year and a new decade. It is a good time to reflect, review and refresh or revive our dreams and plan our road map for the next 10 years.

Do you have a goal in your life? Or does your life look like this – Eat sleep work, eat sleep work, eat sleep work…?

At the beginning of 2019, we asked ourselves what will the future say about us. What commentary did Dec 2019 have on Jan 2019? What changed or what growth happened in the months between Jan –Dec 2019?

God has a destiny over each of our lives. We need to remind ourselves of this truth so that we do not drift but grab hold of our calling.


TEXT
2 Tim 1:5-6 Paul encourages Timothy:   I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.


I am not going to do an exegeses this text but am going to share around this theme of a gift/calling God has placed inside you.

This fanning in flame requires commitment. You have to take a hold of that for which Christ took hold for you. You see the purpose in that statement.

What is the “that for which Christ took a hold of you” in your life?

SOME THOUGHTS
Calling is not about a pulpit ministry. It is about being Christ’s ambassadors in the world wherever we are. It is about being an apostolic people. What is that you might ask?

 Apostle is not a biblical term but a common day Greek term, which means Ambassador.

In the same way, we are Christ's apostles or ambassadors. Wherever we go, we are to be the aroma of Christ. Salt and light. Salt and light are useless gathered on a Sunday, if that is all it does.

Light is supposed to shine in darkness not where there is light already.
 Salt is needed where there is no salt. We bring influence and the wisdom of God to the world.

So what is the “want to” in your life? Do you have a ‘want to’ that drives you, that makes you wake up each day?

In life we go through many cycles of ups and downs but each cycle ought to be in an upward direction. Those crises points could be God’s pruning- he is cutting off things that are not bearing fruit in our life.

In order to fulfill our calling we have to do something. It will not happen by magic. It is not God’s responsibility to make it happen. We have to partner with HIM.

Curved balls may come at you but you have to take a swing at it or it can knock you down.

Some sit like victims and feel powerless. An indicator that you have a victim mindset is when you say things like:
“I can’t help it”,
“It’s all happening only to me”,
“Why me?”
“What have I done to deserve this”?
“No one is helping me”.
“I’m all alone “.
“They did this to me”.

 Victims do not take responsibility therefore cannot change the atmosphere around them because they do not believe they have the solution.

We are going to look at 2 people today who could have fallen into this trap and no one would have blamed them if they did. But they did not.

The two people I am talking about are Joseph and Paul.

They had a choice before them – to sink under the weight of circumstances and injustice or to rise above it.

If you wait for circumstance to be perfect before you start pursuing anything or going after our calling, you will be waiting forever.

“If you can’t flourish in the fire, you won’t flourish at all” T D Jakes.

If you have understood your calling, and are committed to it; it will begin to reflect in the choices you make.

Dreams do not just happen. Neither do they happen overnight, they happen over time! Someone said overnight success takes 20 years!!

. He saw himself as a prince. But he landed up becoming a prisoner and slave for about 13 years!!! Do you have what it takes to hold on for over a decade, to a dream when life is completely in the opposite direction?

Are the choices you are making just for that moment or keeping in mind your long-term plan.

Fulling your calling requires character. Character is displayed in, commitment, consistency, and communion

1.    Commitment Luke 16:10-12 . 10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

Another word for it is stewardship. Some of us hold out on our commitment when we have to serve under someone else. It takes character to serve someone else’s vision well.

Joseph served Potiphar faithfully.

Joseph could have given up and just existed and given in to a victim mentality. He was victimized, but he did not think like a victim.
Joseph true to his character stays committed even in crises. He serves faithfully in circumstances contrary to his calling.

 2. Consistent –Joseph was consistent in his character. He rose to be in charge of the other inmates. What does this tell you? Circumstances did not dictate or shape his responses. He served faithfully in the prison, therefore got promoted to the palace.

 Had Joseph decided not to interpret the butler’s dream do you think Pharaoh would have heard of him? Joseph would have died in the dungeon, unknown and forgotten.

Remember in God’s kingdom, nothing is ever wasted. No pain or trials is ever wasted.

 Do circumstances dictate your consistency, your commitment?
Consistency is an internal default position

  Do you have the stamina for the long haul?
There is a sowing and reaping. Grace does give us what we don’t deserve. Even the reaping is a grace gift. But if you have not sown how do you expect to reap?

  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. GAL 6:7-10

Paul was tested in this. Far from it. These are the words penned by a man in prison.  For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— Ephsians 3:1
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen. Eph 3:20
 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christand be found in him Phil 3:7-9

God will only entrust the treasures of his kingdom to the faithful.
Our lack of consistency causes our calling to fall away or us not reaching our full potential.

3 Communion – Last but not the least by any long shot . Joseph maintained his communion with God. 
He never forgot what he learned in his father’s house. He could have said I am in a strange land with its own cultural norms and he could have changed his convictions to match the circumstances.

I believe this came from a quiet strong faith and communion with God. IT says in Gen 39:21 the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

It is his ongoing communion with God, that helped him interpret the baker’s dream, the butler’s dreams; and then the Pharaoh’s dream.

God-given wisdom helped him plan for the famine and God shaped character enabled him to forgive his brothers and have a right perspective to all that happened in his life.

Without God we are nothing. We need that daily communion with Jesus because part from him we cannot produce lasting fruit.

CONCLUSION

Paul had to endure many hardships, beatings, shipwrecks, and prison. Had Paul while being in prison given into feeling sorry for himself or being a victim we would not have his letters to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and to Philemon. What a loss that would have been!

Reflection

What is God putting his finger on today? Do you have the courage to rededicate yourself? What has God called you to do in your career, in your Christian calling, in your role as child or parent or spouse?
Are you willing to fight for your calling?
·       Some of you have given up or given into thinking like a victim.

  • ·       Some of us need to renew our minds but a negative thought cycle or pattern.
  • ·       Some of us need a strong “want to” that drives us to stay committed to our calling.
  • ·       Some of us need to learn to say no to somethings in order to say YES to the right things.
  • ·       Some of us have been plain lazy
  • ·       Some of us have to burn some bridges and attachments to wrong ways of thinking, behavior, ways of relating to circumstances, for some even relationships!!
  • ·       Some of us have to work on our consistency because we are too dictated by our feelings.
  •  Some have had goals and have done really well last year. Well done!

What are you willing to sacrifice in order to co labour with God to make your calling come to pass

Whichever the category you are in, God’s grace is available for a fresh start.

Let’s be Christ's apostolic people who will be committed to our calling and be world changers!




Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 


Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Should We Expect A Reward | Colin D

This message was preached by  Colin D at Word of Grace Church on January 12th, 2020 To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the worship please click here


SHOULD WE EXPECT A REWARD


Jer 32:40
Phil 3:12-16
Last week we saw how Paul said that he had not yet arrived but he continues to take a hold of that for which Christ took hold of Him. He was pressing on and it required effort.

In the old Wild West, you would often see posters nailed on trees and doors saying, “Wanted” – with a sketch of a man’s face, offering a huge reward if anyone could bring this person dead or alive to the Sheriff’s office.

Even today, some governments offer rewards for information that is important to their national security.

We all like rewards. Should we look forward to it or seek it?

Let us look at Hebrews 11 :1-
The Bible is full of stories about God and His people. All these people in Hebrews 11 displayed faith, but they also displayed action. Their belief was accompanied by behaving. They all did something. When faith is mixed with obedience, blessings follow.

V25 Moses grew up in the palace. He had everything he needed. Yet he chose to be mistreated i.e he gave up the palace for the slum. He was eagerly looking forward to his reward.

Their actions were tested. Abraham, Moses all were tested. Abraham did not know where he was going. Faith is the foundation of our salvation but God wants to give us rewards. We all believe god exits. So does the devil.
How do we earnestly seek God?

Heb 11:6 Rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Matt6:5 We can PRAY. When you pray in secret, the Father will reward you. This is a good way to get a reward. Earthly things seem so attractive but Moses chooses to let it go.

On Pentecost 10.000 came to faith but they were all Jews. But one day God got hold of Peter and spoke to him in a vision in Acts 10 – about going to the gentiles as well. So we are all included in the gospel today. Why Cornelius? v2 – He was devout, God-fearing and generous and prayed faithfully.

Acts 10:4 your prayer and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering. If you want to catch God’s eye be in His presence and pray. You have an opportunity to pray through the 24/7 prayer chain we will be restarting.
Cornelius loved God’s presence. David loved God’s presence 2Sam6.

Where the Ark was in the OT blessings followed the Israelites. Today we have the presence of God dwelling in our hearts.

Matt 6:1-4 Pray and  GIVE in secret, and you will be rewarded. Giving is not just money but in all areas of life.

Tithes are not giving but bringing to God what is already His. Giving is over and above that.

V16-18 FAST this is the 3rd area God rewards. Your faith who see what is done is secret will reward you. If we wat to see spiritual breakthrough we need to pray and fast. Just like Esther who prayed and fasted for a change for her people in her nation.

Conclusion. Without faith, we cannot please Him. He rewards when we seek Him. Let us seek Him in prayer, giving and fasting. Jesus gives us a promise and the Father will reward us. Amen!




Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

Friday, January 10, 2020

Press on - 2020 | Colin D



This message was preached by  Colin D at Word of Grace Church on January 5th, 2020 To listen/download the audio please click here

Phil 3:12-16- “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.


  1. We have not arrived: Apostle Paul is writing and says, I have not arrived. Are you happy with the way you have lived your Christian life? What grade would you give yourself. We have not arrived. Think about Paul. 2 Corinthians 11 talks about what Paul accomplished. V 23 - 28 “Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” Have any of us experienced any of this? He suffered for the gospel. But he kept a godly Christ like attitude. In the Philippians  were suffering, beaten, in stocks, and in prison yet praising God! He has given his life for the gospel. But he says I have not arrived. So we have not arrived. 
  2. Press on: extreme effort is needed in order to grow in our 
    1. Pail says I need to put in maximum effort to progress. Lots of people show up to gym for the first week of the year and then quit. But we can’t give up. So that can be our New Years resolution. 
    2. There is a difference between a marathon and a sprint. You need to pace yourself in a marathon, but for a sprint we press on. Giving everything we have. That’s the picture of what God wants us to press on in our Christian life. 1 Timothy 6:12 - you don’t find fighters fighting casually. 
    3. What can hinder us? 
      1. Forget what lies behind - everyone would have regrets. But it’s gone. We need to be straining in what is ahead. What’s done is done, now we have to run. 
      2. Straining forward - implies extreme effort.  It is to stretch. God wants us to exert effort. 
  3. To take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took of me: Paul was a persecuter of the church. And Christ took hold of him on the road to Damascus. He lived his lived to fulfil the reason for that. When did God take hold of you? That is for a purpose. Romans 8: 29- 30 - predestined to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus. That’s the goal. The things along the way are good, but that’s not the ultimate goal. God will allow us to go through whatever is needed to become like Jesus. Just how a diamond is formed, God has taken hold of us to and is fashioning us to make us like Jesus. Blessings and trials come together. Rick Warren author of purpose driven life says had many blessings from this work, but the same year his wife got cancer. 


What can we do? 
  • We could read through the Bible. What is a spiritual goal you can attain for this year? Something that will take effort and stretch you. 
  • Do something that involves people. Make it a goal to spend time with one another. 
  • Be in some way involved in taking the gospel to the end of the world. 


What are the commitments you’re going to make this year? Jesus took hold of you for a purpose and has great plans for you. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom in this. 

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.